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Join Telegram ChannelArte shares two very original documentaries on the filmmaker who is a fan of “handmade” cinema.
Attention night owls, this Friday from 11:25 p.m., Arte will broadcast two new documentaries on Michael Gondrytitled Do it Yourself And In Bed With Michel Gondry. If this late hour discourages you, don't panic: they are already available on Arte.TV.
Last year, Michel Gondry spoke like never before about his own life in The Book of Solutionsa film inspired by his own burn-out during the preparation of his adaptation of Boris Vian's classic, The Foam of Days (the film was released in 2013), offering Pierre Niney the golden role of an artist alternately filled with doubts or certain that he will revolutionize the world of cinema thanks to his genius. This courageous look at his own work, mixing intimate self-criticism and artistic vision, was not really a surprise for fans of his work since his beginnings, as his clips, then his films, are overflowing with spleen, Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind (2004) in mind.
Bipolarity and the Lost Scenario: The True Story Behind The Book of Solutions by Michel Gondry
See Kate Winslet explain that she has wonderful memories of her experience on this drama, while admitting that she would not like “not live in Michael's head”well sums up the ambition of these two docuses, which mix captivating interviews with Michel – when he does not put himself on stage – with comments from those close to him, such as his brothers, whom he filmed as soon as they were childhood, or his famous collaborators.
While mixing live and animation, they deliver a captivating double portrait, particularly because its frankness is disconcerting. They also create bridges between his clips, his films and his documentaries (The Thorn in the Heartabout his aunt, a rural teacher, is cited several times), constantly bouncing from one original idea to another to give an overview of his work in its entirety. Like this little hedgehog lost at night in the middle of nature, seen in a short Russian animated film during his childhood, which also inspired scenes from his cult music video for “Human Behavior”from Björk as from her first film, Human Nature or his very personal project, The Science of Dreams – who will also resume his nightmare of “big hands”already present in “Walkie Talkie Man”from the Steriogram group.
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Michel Gondry Do it Yourself
“Excuse me, but, uh… how many years are you going to take to make your film now?”suddenly laughs Gondry, filmed for the umpteenth time by François Nemeta, who became his assistant after discovering him thanks to his group, Oui-Oui. This having been founded in 1983, the two men have known each other for four decades, and it is largely this proximity which gives the first documentary, Do it Yourselfhis very particular tone.
Returning to his cult clips, then his cinematographic experiences – and even those to come, like Maya give me a titlein which he brings his daughter's ideas to life in animation and which will be released in October, the film often gives voice to the key artists of his career.
From Beck (for whom he notably designed the brilliant music video for “Deadweight”where he literally appears next to his pumps) to Jack Black (Be nice, rewind) or its “accomplice rival” Spike Jonze, via Kylie Minogue (multiplied in “Come Into My World”), all seem very attached to the world of Gondry, and they are not stingy with anecdotes. Akhenaton discovered, for example, 30 years after the release of “I Dance Mia” where did Michel get the idea of the famous zoom to move forward, like a mind that projects itself into the future, into what it will do the next moment.
Michel Gondry: “They always bring me back to Eternal Sunshine…”
Another revealing exchange, when Gondry returns to the misunderstanding that allowed him to sign with the White Stripes: they were in love with a great clip by Lenny Kravitz… which was not his. “There are two or three clips where I really screwed up. These poor artists paid for the others”then comments Michel in full mea culpa, a few seconds before admitting to Jack White that he signed to illustrate “The Hardest Button to Button” in order to stage “his best visual idea”a concept so strong that it made it possible to counteract “the most boring part of his song” !
This side “cash” was already present in Jim and Andythe Netflix docu retracing the transformation of Jim Carrey into Andy Kaufman for Man on the Moon (1999), and in which the Canadian star explained that she might have been taken aback by the outspokenness of the director ofEternal Sunshine :
“During our first meeting, he found my sadness 'Magnificent'. He asked me to 'not getting better, not getting better until filming..' Yes, this industry is that twisted.”commented the actor, smiling between two crazy revelations about his career, while showing significant affection towards this creator, whom he later found for his series Kidding.
With The Science of Dreams, Michel Gondry invents new generation surrealism [critique]
In Bed with Michel Gondry
Presented as the “side B” of Do it Yourselfthe documentary that follows doesn't just give a pop nod to Madonna. It is indeed an excellent supplement, which delves even further into his neuroses, in this case his chronic insomnia.
If it doesn't seem easy to delve into his mind, it can't be easy to share his bed either, as Gondry is incapable of sleeping through the night. “for over 50 years.” By his own admission, this inability to have a normal sleep cycle since his childhood is a suffering, which leads to other disorders – notably nocturnal cravings which he is unable to curb – but which also contributes to the frenzy of his creations. His ideas can sometimes come to him from dreams and nightmares (the border is never far away), or from half-watched films between two sleeps: did he fully appreciate Lost Highway by David Lynch or imagined part of his scenes when discovering him in the middle of insomnia? His inability to sleep also pushes him to create minute animated cutouts at all hours.
Starting from this sleep disorder, Michel Gondry confides once again about his work, his life and his fears, without taboo, speaking with passion about his multiple sources of inspiration, from Russian animated cinema to his “cuddly movies”the only ones capable of calming his anxieties for a while: Didierby Alain Chabat – who has also come to collect his secrets like a shrink during a beautiful tribute to Jean-Pierre Bacri – and an American comedy, Liar, liarwith Jim Carrey, obviously.
If the participants are fewer in number than in Do it Yourselfthey appear comfortable enough to confide in their turn, like Charlotte Gainsbourg, who delivers an intimate anecdote about one of her children, Pierre Gondry, Michel's son, himself an artist , who worries about whether his father is able to sleep better, or the astrophysicist Trinh Xuan Thuan, with whom he debates the meaning of life. And death goes with it.
We understand better why Arte decided to share these two documentaries in the middle of the night: this is where Michel Gondry is most creative. And too bad if we end up contradicting Kate Winslet by realizing that we had a great time in her head…
With Be Nice Rewind, Michel Gondry created a vibrant hymn to creation [critique]